


Our Souls in Our Voices

by itsAlliebitheway



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bisexual Kara Danvers, F/F, Hospital meet, Kara Danvers isn't Supergirl, Kara is blind, Lena works on a cure, Lesbian Lena Luthor, Scientist Lena Luthor, the Luthors still have problems ofc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25917184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsAlliebitheway/pseuds/itsAlliebitheway
Summary: Kara Danvers has a rare eye disease which made her go blind. Lucky for her, young scienticst Lena Luthor developed a medical trial to treat said disease.orThe one where Kara and Lena meet in the Luthor's Childrens Hospital where Kara stays during the trial and Lena reads to the sick kids.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 144
Kudos: 601





	1. Losing track

**Author's Note:**

> heyo guys :)  
> pls note that I do not know anything about any eye diseases, I just made it up for the premise of the story. I am also not a blind person and just imagining all that. I do not want to offend anyone with the things I write here. If I do, pls call me out on it, so I can fix my mistakes. I'm sorry in advance.  
> I want to add more chapters, so more characters and maybe more tags will appear... who knows, not me :)
> 
> enjoy the read^^

“Hello, excuse me? Do you have a second?” 

Lena turned around. She did not expect to be addressed by the women standing near the wall.  
“Are you talking to me?”, she asked the woman and stepped a little closer. She was confused, because the blond did face the window, not her. 

“Yes, sorry. I was wondering if you could help me out for a second.” She turned around. Lena wanted to stop her eyebrows from raising because she didn't want to be rude, but it didn’t matter. The woman’s eyes were covered by a bandage which she didn’t see before because her hair had covered it. 

“Could you maybe guide me back to my room? Normally I count my steps to get around, but today something else occupied my mind.” 

Lena nodded, then realized that the woman couldn’t see her and quickly answered: “Of course, what is your room number?”

The blond woman blushed. “I honestly don’t know. I left the door open, it should be somewhere here down the hall, but I don’t want to barge into another person’s room.” 

“That’s all right. I only see one open door. No breach of privacy needed.” The blond chuckled. “I’m Lena by the way. Is it okay if I touch you now?”, she asked as she approached the blind woman carefully.

“Of course. It’s nice to meet you Lena, my name is Kara.” 

Lena could see Kara holding her breath shortly as she gently took the blind woman’s hand and placed it on her elbow. It wasn’t her first time helping out a blind person, so she knew what to do. Kara released her held breath and smiled. Lena began walking slowly towards Kara’s room, but she felt a little awkward just guiding her. 

“What distracted you from counting your steps, if you don’t mind me asking?” Kara chuckled again and Lena found herself liking the sound of it already.  
“You, actually. I unconsciously followed your voice, while you were reading _Winnie the Pooh_ to someone.”  
“Impressive. We were in the middle of the book; you must know it well to recognize it.”  
“I read the book even before I saw the movie”, Kara bragged, and if Lena didn’t know better, she thought the woman was teasing her.  
“I often come here and spend time with the kids. The little boys I read to today were in a terrible car accident, and I thought our all-time favorite bear would bring them some joy.”  
“He always does.” Kara agreed and slightly turned on her own account, now facing her open door. 

“How did you know we were here?” Lena asked, suddenly curious.  
“Close your eyes Lena.”, was all she said. Lena was confused. The blind woman seemingly sensed it. “Trust me, I can teach you something. I trusted you with my way home after all.” Lena huffed.  
“We are in a hospital hallway, it’s not like you could get lost.” Her teasing tone did not escape the blond, so she didn’t take the words the wrong way.  
“Do you want to learn something, or not?”, she just asked and waited for Lena’s response.  
“Fine. My eyes are closed. Now what.” “Just be still. Trust your other senses. What do you feel?” 

So, Lena tried to feel, to sense something other than the darkness in front of her.  
“I smell the lunch that is being served. And I hear a child crying somewhere.”  
“Four rooms down the hall”, Kara supplied. “But you have more senses than smelling and hearing.” 

Lena couldn’t hold herself back. She peeked at the blond women next to her. Kara was facing her, as if she could see her. A tiny smile was painted on her lips, as if she knew what Lena was about to experience. 

“Close your eyes Lena.”  
“What?! How did you know?”  
“The same way I knew that we were here. I tell you when you close your eyes again.” Lena followed suit. “Before I left my room, I opened my window. Because of the open door, it creates an unusual airflow. Turn your face in the direction of my door. Now can you feel the draught?” 

“Yes.” It wasn’t more then a whisper. 

“Face me. What do you feel now?” Again, Lena obliged and shuddered at the sensation. “Your breath. Even though we stand so far apart.” Kara chuckled and began moving. Involuntarily, Lena’s eyes snapped open.  
“People with sight always face you when you talk to them. When you had your eyes closed, you turned away a little to take everything in. I could only feel your breath again when you looked at me.”  
“I guess, I never consciously feel the air when I have my eyes open, you're right”, Lena agreed. 

Suddenly she realized that she had entered Kara's room without being invited in, which made her really uncomfortable. 

“I’m sorry I followed you in. I'll leave you to it then. Have a good evening Kara, it was nice meeting you.”  
“Oh no, that's totally okay. Do you want to stay a little longer? Unless you have something to do, of course.” Lena smiled to herself. She didn't expect the request, but it was welcome either way.  
“No, I don't have to be anywhere right now. May I sit down at your table?” Kara nodded. She went to the table herself and pulled a chair out.  
“Here, if you don't mind. I like the seat facing the window because the sun shines directly in my face. It's a nice sensation.”  
Lena thanked her and took the opportunity to look around the room, while Kara sat down herself.  
“It would be too bright for you anyways”, she chuckled to herself and Lena joined in. It was a too infectious sound not to. 

Suddenly, Kara stood up again, stepped around the table and held out a hand.  
“Sorry, seems like I completely forgot my manners. Can I take your coat and indulge you in a glass of water? I put some lemons in today.”  
“You put lemons in?”, was all Lena could ask in confusion, staring at Kara's outstretched hand.  
“Yeah, you see, I always take this glass carafe over there and fill it at the water dispenser down the hall, so I don't have to walk there for every single cup. I don't like the taste of water bottled in plastic so I use this.” She pointed to the water carafe, scarily accurate gesture, Lena noticed.  
“My sister Alex brings me fresh fruit every day together with some baked goods. She likes to balance it out you know, the sugar and the vitamins. So, this morning I put the lemon in just to spice it up a little bit. Do you want to keep your coat on?” She tilted her head a little to the side as if trying to hear what Lena was doing. 

“Oh god sorry, now I'm the rude one. I was admiring and totally forgot your initial question. Do you need help with that?”, she wanted to know as she handed Kara her coat.  
“Oh no, thanks, I know the room.” She went to the wardrobe without any hesitation and hung her coat right next to a dark blue jacket.  
“Water would also be nice, thank you, Kara”, Lena said, remembering how to actually talk and not only staring at the blond woman who navigated around the room without trouble, even gracefully. She watched as Kara picked up two glasses and the carafe, poured in some liquid in each by using her index finger to feel how full she had filled them. She brought them back to the table and sat down again across Lena, a small smile gracing her lips. 

“I can practically hear you thinking. Ask away, I don't mind.”  
“Are you sure about that? I'm probably the most curious person you could come across.” Kara just nodded. 

A sneaking suspicion had grown in her mind since they had entered Kara's room. A room she had to herself. The standard second bed was replaced with a comfortable looking chair with thick, fluffy cushions. There were shelves which looked just like the ones in her lab, and Lena was sure that it was identical to the ones the hospital used in storage rooms. It certainly did not belong in a patient's room. On it were normal books as well as books which blind people could read, as well as some CD's, a little stereo, some DVD's and a laptop. Lena deemed it too much stuff for a normal patient. But the only way to find out if her suspicion was correct would be by asking. 

“You seem to have an awful lot of stuff here. Why is that?”  
“You can look through it if you want. I am staying here longer than normal patients so the nurses wanted me to feel as comfortable as possible.” Lena nodded, then realized again that Kara couldn’t catch that and answered instead:  
“That’s nice. But why are you staying at a children's hospital? You look older than 21, no offense though.”  
“None taken”, she laughed again. “I’m 23 actually, but my treatment started when I was 18 so they wanted me to stay. I am actually a part of a medical research trial. It's funded by the Luthors, so it wouldn’t make sense to do it everywhere but here, in their own hospital.” Kara paused and took a sip of her water. It seemed like she waited for another question, but Lena had none left. 

Now she knew everything. The suspicion was confirmed. But Kara didn’t know that. She contemplated about telling the woman across, but was interrupted by her again.  
“Lunch's getting served. Do you want to stay? I'm sure they can find a spare dish for you. And it’s actually good hospital food, thank the Luthors for that as well.” She chuckled again. 

As if on cue, the door was pushed open by a nurse who carried a tray with a bowl, a plate and some cutlery packaged by a thin napkin.  
“Hey Kara, today is schnitzel day remember? You have it with some mashed potatoes and carrots on the side.” Then the nurse realized she was not alone and a second after she saw Lena, recognition struck.  
“Thanks Nia, is there any possibility for another one? I invited Lena here to stay with me for dinner and sharing a plate would be a little early in our relationship.” She chuckled again. Lena thought it came as natural as breathing to her.  
“Of course, I will look for one right away. Do you have any food allergies I have to take in account, Miss Luthor?”  
“That’s very kind. I have no allergies, thank you.” Nurse Nia left again. 

Lena had seen Kara freeze up a little as soon as Nia had addressed her by her last name. She felt a sudden urge to put her hand on Kara's arm to comfort her but thought better of it.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you who I was. It felt nice to talk to someone without prejudice. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that. I'm sorry. I'll leave you.” 

She was halfway to the door when Kara’s voice held her back.  
“No, please stay. I don’t mind you not telling me. I should have connected the dots myself.” Lena let out a breath she didn’t know she had held. She sat back down at the table while letting out a confused sound.  
“What dots where there to connect?” Kara smirked again while lifting her cover from the soup bowl and her plate.  
“Your coat felt very expensive. Your perfume smells like it is custom made, and your sneakers didn’t make a squeaking sound on the linoleum floors which means they also have to be somewhat expensive. And you said you come here often to spend time with the kids, which is probably good publicity.” 

“That’s not why I do it, the public doesn’t even know about it actually.” Lena didn’t know why she had the need to defend herself. She was the bad guy here, the one who had basically lied to Kara for her own convenience. But it didn’t seem to affect her that much.  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume that,” Kara said in a somewhat quiet voice. It sounded like she was ashamed of herself. Lena just couldn’t have that. She was the one who should be ashamed.  
“No, it's alright. I get how you would think that. It would look really good for my family, but I don't really like them so I'm just doing it for the kids.” 

Before Kara could answer, Nia walked back in with another tray of food.  
“Found someone who got discharge early so here you go, Miss Luthor. Have a nice lunch, you two.” And with that she left again. 

As soon as Kara heard that Lena had lifted her cover from her plate, she began to cut her schnitzel, dunked a piece into the mashed potatoes and ate it.  
“You didn’t have to wait for me.”  
“Of course, I did, you are my guest.” She smiled and ate another piece of meat. 

Lena just kept staring. She couldn’t understand how she was so lucky to have met such a genuinely kind person. Kara seemed to sense it again and put her cutlery down, but instead of asking Lena what was on her mind, she asked a question herself:  
“So, did you know who I was right away when I asked you for help? After all there are just two people participating in this trial from what I understand. And I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t tell you this, but Nia let it slip, that the other one is a guy, so a mix up should be unlikely.” Again, a little chuckle followed.  
“I didn’t realize it right away, no. As soon as I saw your room though, it was almost clear and then you mentioned the trial.”  
“Do you know much about it? The trial, I mean? I'm sorry, but I don’t really know what you are doing at LuthorCorp.” Lena nodded. What a bad habit that was.  
“I am working as the head of R&D at the moment, Research and Development that is. I, uhm, I am the one who came up with your treatment actually, and I follow every step, though only through the files, I'm afraid.” Kara let out a weighted breath. 

“Uh, sorry. That’s a lot to process… You basically hold my future in your hands even though until just a couple weeks ago I had accepted that I’m gonna be blind forever, and I can't help but feel somewhat attracted to you. Oh god, sorry, I don't know why I said that. It's just a lot and I'm getting very confused by all the tiny details, and-“ 

“Kara, breath”, Lena instructed, efficiently cutting off the blonde's nervous ramble. Kara exhaled loudly and took a view measured breaths afterwards. Lena reached out for her hand but thought better of it.  
“May I take your hand? I don’t want to startle you.” Kara nodded her consent. “Breath in again please, you worry me a little.” Kara did as she was asked.  
“Does that happen often, that you talk yourself out of oxygen?” Kara had calmed down a little more. Lena’s hand had anchored her soothingly.  
“Only if I’m really nervous. But I can’t help it, I have so many questions. Like, how are you so young and already the head of the major division of your family's company? You can’t be much older than me, can you?”  
“I’ll answer everything, I promise. Just breath for me, okay? You need to be conscious in order to hear my answers.” Lena's teasing tone made her smile a little and she took a couple more deep breaths, then nodded carefully. 

“I am 24, actually. My school experience was a little unusual. I graduated when I was 16, went to MIT for 5 years and worked with R&D afterwards. My brother promoted me to head of department just 3 months ago, so I could oversee everything. Well, and to kick-start the trial.”  
“How did you graduate High school at age 16 but took 5 years for your college degree?”  
“I have 4 degrees”, Lena answered nonchalantly.  
“Of course you do”, Kara chuckled. She reached for her glass and took a large sip of lemon water. 

She resumed to eating afterwards, with Lena mirroring her. Between bites, she added:  
“I still have more I want to know, I just love the schnitzel too much to let it get cold.” Lena laughed wholeheartedly at that.  
"We can eat and talk. Multi-tasking is kind of my secret superpower. Shoot.”  
“When did you come up with the treatments? And did you do it all by yourself?”, Kara asked.

“As a matter of fact, I didn’t. Me and my friend Jack came up with it. We were studying together for one of our biology exams in the fourth semester. We tossed a couple ideas around, goofing around with two theories we should be able to apply for the test. I don’t even remember how the actual idea for the trial came out of it. But after this exam we had a couple more practical seminars in the labs and conducted experiments. Combined different cell structures, tinkered with DNA samples and stuff. It somehow worked.”  
“Does he still work with you?”  
“Uhm, no. He found his own company in Metropolis. I wanted to keep working with him but… let's just say anything but LuthorCorp wasn’t an option for me. And my brother wasn’t willing to employ Jack so he did his own thing. I sometimes text him the outcome of the treatments but I really miss working with him.” 

Kara was silent after that. It seemed like some personal stuff that she didn’t dare to ask about yet.  
“Sorry, that was a lot. I don’t know why I just told you all that", Lena quietly added.  
“No, it's okay, I get it. Talking to you comes easily.”  
“Yeah, it does.”

They ate in silence again until both their plates were empty. Suddenly, a quiet beeping sound broke the silence of the room.  
“What was that? Do you have to be somewhere?”, Lena asked.  
“No, that was just my watch. It beeps every hour. I don’t actually have any treatments today.”  
“Ah, so what time is it?”  
“1 pm probably, maybe 2. To be honest I lost track of time since I heard your voice.” 

“Seems like you lost a couple if things eh? Your steps, time. Seems like I'm not good for you,” Lena said in a teasing tone which made Kara blush. But then she remembered how they got to that topic and she frantically pulled out her phone to check the time. 

“Shit, sorry, I have to go. It's really 2pm. I should have been back at the office an hour ago.”  
“Oh no, I’m so sorry, Lena. I totally destroyed your whole schedule.”  
"Don’t be silly, it’s not like you kidnapped me. And besides, I enjoyed this hour talking to you much more than my whole week at work combined.”  
“I’m glad that I can be of service.” Kara smiled and stood up. Lena followed suit. 

Kara went over to the wardrobe and got Lena’s coat for her.  
“Thank you. Not just for the coat, but for this extraordinary lunch.”  
“My pleasure”, Kara replied and opened her door. Lena said her final goodbye and was out of the room seconds later. A few steps away, she was stopped by her own name though. 

“Lena?” She turned back to the blond who was facing in her general direction.  
“Will you come back?”  
“ _Winnie the Pooh_ won’t finish itself. I’ll swing by your room right after it?”  
“I’d really like that”, Kara leaned against her doorframe. She smiled and waved a little. 

“Until next week then.”


	2. Cakes and Interrogations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex stops by with a cake, like the good sister she is, and interrogates Kara about her new acquaintance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo folks :)
> 
> Sorry for the long wait. I really didin't know where I wanted this chapter to go so it took me a long second to come up with smth. Lucky for me, the chapter decided to come up with its own story when I was a little drunk at a party (corona safty was happening^^), so here it is.  
> Thanks for all your kudos and comments, they truly make my day and have me smiling like a huge dork for hours :D
> 
> enjoy :)

The Wednesday that followed Lena’s first visit was special because of two occasions. Alex had brought half a cake from a bakery to celebrate that Kara had made it through half of the trial. At least the first half of it before she could go home for another two months. 

Kara was already on her second piece when Alex dared to broach the subject:   
“So, you met Lena Luthor last week and said nothing else about it.”   
“Is there a question somewhere in there, Alex?” Alex huffed in annoyance. She didn’t expect Kara to spill every tiny detail right away, but normally, they would share everything, so it irritated her a little that Kara had only mentioned it in passing. 

“You’ll give me nothing? What you talked about? How you met? Nothing?”   
“Hey, look at you. Three question at once. I knew you could do it”, Kara laughed.   
“Stop fucking around, Kara. Just tell me what happened.”   
“Language, Alexandra”, Kara scolded, perfectly mimicking Eliza’s tone.   
“You do realize that I’m the only person delivering you sticky buns and potstickers, right?”, Alex shot back which quieted Kara in seconds. 

“Well, I was wandering around in the halls, and heard her reading to some boys. I might have unconsciously followed her voice and lost count of my steps. I listened until she left the room and asked her to guide me back to my room. She seemed interested in me, I didn’t know why at the time, of course, so I invited her to stay for lunch. That’s about it.” Kara waited for a reaction from her sister, but when she heard nothing, she bumped her shoulder against Alex’s.   
“Sorry, sorry, I’m just stunned at how boring you can make one of the smartest people on earth sound.”   
Kara shrugged, deflecting. “I don’t know what else I’m supposed to tell you. She asked me a lot of questions, I wanted to know a couple of things after I realized who she is. She had to leave for the office just a little later.”   
“Wait, hold on, hold on. What do you mean when you say, ‘after you realized’? Didn’t she tell you her name?”, Alex wanted to know.   
“Of course, she did. She was very polite. She said her name was Lena, just not her last name. How was I supposed to know? I found out when Nia addressed her as ‘Miss Luthor’ when she brought me lunch.” 

Alex made a humming noise and continued eating her piece of cake. After a little while, she spoke again.   
“So, did she tell you a lot about her inventions? I bet she is in the process of curing cancer and inventing some kind of cool machine to look inside the body all at the same time.” 

Kara snorted at her sister’s wild imagination but frowned shortly after. Alex wasn’t that far off. Kara debated in her head if she should tell her what Lena had actually come up with. It would for sure boost Alex’s fan girl energy to the moon, though Kara knew, that Alex would become wary of their meeting after telling her. 

Alex was having none of it when she saw Kara frowning.   
“What did she tell you? Do you know what will be published next? Tell me everything! Pretty please.” Kara chuckled at that. She knew that tone well.   
“Alex, stop pouting at me, it doesn’t work anymore.” Alex huffed out in annoyance.   
“It’s so unfair that you know when I’m pouting but won’t react to it.”   
“Pff, stop whining. I would have told you anyway. Remember your sticky bun and potsticker threat? I don’t think I have a chance against my appetite.” It was Alex’s turn to laugh. 

She resumed eating after her fit and waited for Kara to continue talking. “Okay, don’t freak out. But she did tell me about something she invented. And it’s this trail. My trial.” 

A fork clattered onto a plate. Kara heard Alex take in a huge breath.   
“She did what?!” Kara had known the yell was coming but flinched away because of the loud noise either way. Alex realized it, thankfully.   
“Shit, sorry for yelling. But she did what? She invented your treatment? And you just sat and chatted with her like it was the most normal thing on the face of earth?” Alex huffed out a couple more times, trying to understand what her sister had just told her. Kara knew her well enough to give her a couple of minutes until she answered.   
“I wasn’t exactly calm when I found out either. I rambled myself out of oxygen again, actually.” That made her sister laugh.   
“So, did she know who you were when she saw you? Did she talk to you because of her work?”   
“No, she said talking to me came easily for her. And I felt the same”, Kara elaborated. 

A little concern was audible in Alex’s voice. Kara was mildly surprised it was only concern, not suspicion or even outright anger. She knew Alex was a fan of Lena’s work but also knew of her sister’s hatred of Lena’s brother Lex and things he had done. She heard Alex rant about it often enough. She had no idea how such polar opposites could work within the same company and not collide ever two seconds, but Kara was determent to find out more about her new friend anyways. She would just have to add that to the mental list of questions she already had in her had. 

“I asked the same questions. She said she didn’t know who I was from the beginning but figured it out pretty quickly after she saw my room. And I guess the bandage over the eyes gave it away.” She chuckled and finished her cake. Alex was lost in thought again. 

It wasn’t uncommon for the sisters to sit in silence together. It was something that happened more and more when Kara first got sick. It had gradually normalized when the weight of the diagnosis became to heavy for the both of them to talk down. Kara’s disease became the knew center of both of their lives. Alex helped her with everything. She learned braille together with her when the glasses to read weren’t enough anymore, she went to several electrical stores with her to slowly transition her electronics to ones, that blind people could use, like a talking wrist watch, a scale that announced the weights and stuff like that. Alex even drove her to a special animal shelter where Kara could start getting familiar with different guide dogs. 

This was all before her doctor had informed her of the new trial of LuthorCorp. Alex, who sat beside her at the doctor’s office, was skeptical at first. She knew of Lex’s questionable choices for his father’s company. But as an assistant doctor at NC General Hospital and with a great interest in bioengineering, she had heard of Lex’s little sister, an up and coming new hope for the company. Not many knew about Lena’s work yet, and maybe Alex agreed because she had hoped for Lena’s involvement in it. Or maybe she just needed something to hold on to; this tiny sliver of a chance, that made it possible for her baby sister to see again. 

That day in the doctor’s office was probably one of the hardest yet. The latest test had revealed that Kara was completely blind on her left eye and had only 10% left on her right eye. Those 10% would also vanish in a couple of weeks. Nothing more than light and shadow would be left for her. Kara was the one that ultimately spoke the words, that ghosted along in Alex’s head the whole time.   
“I can’t get any blinder if it fails, so let’s do it.” Kara’s doctor agreed.   
“You’re right, Kara. You can’t lose more of your sight. But I have to warn you anyways. It’s gonna be a long process, maybe even sometimes painful. You’ll gonna have to stay in the hospital for 3 months straight, two times. And there is no guarantee that it’ll work. It’s the first time this is going to be tried out.” Kara considered again, this time a little longer.   
“I want to do it. If it will work, I’m gonna be able to see again – and if not, at least I have tried everything. I don’t think I could forgive myself if I didn’t try. And besides, someone has to be the first to test it right? If my results can help others I’m happy, even if it fails.” 

Alex let out a long breath and squeezed Kara’s hand tightly. “You are a too good person for this world, you know that, right?” Kara just chuckled and shook her head. They left with her doctor’s promise about new information and details soon. 

After that they both directed their focus on the trial. While Kara prepared cloths, files on her previous examinations, and some other stuff so she wouldn’t get too bored, Alex read everything she could find on that trial, either published by LuthorCorp or on some science forum on the internet. She explained what would happen to Kara which helped with her nerves. 

The first week in the Luthor Children’s Hospital proofed a couple things to the sisters. They needed each other now more than ever. It became clear to Kara that Alex needed to stop by every day, if not to sooth her anxiety, then for the much-needed food deliveries. It was a children’s hospital after all, the portions were fairly small. Alex needed her sister face to face to make sure she wasn’t lying to her on the phone. Be it about her being comfortable in the hospital, her mental state or the process of the examinations. Kara, at the beginning, had a nasty habit of lying about being in pain. After a couple weeks in the hospital and a couple heated arguments they both agreed to not lie about their feelings ever again. This promised forced Alex now to speak her mind, without a filter.

“Kara, I don’t think that it’s good if you talk too much to Lena. She might get too invested which could cloud her judgment.” Kara’s signature crinkle appeared between her eyebrows.   
“What do you mean?”   
“Do you know that it is forbidden for a doctor to treat family members? Like in Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith wouldn’t be allowed to do surgery on Lexie or Derek, because they are too close. Her feelings would come in the way of her work.”   
“But Lena isn’t my doctor, she will never even be in one of my treatment rooms. And besides, the trail is finished on paper. Everything she is going to change, she will when I’m done. She can’t influence what is happening here.”   
“You can’t know that, Kara. What do you think the break is for? They analyze everything they've got so far and act accordingly. And I'm not sure that Lena can separate you from her research when you get to know each other more”, Alex explained. 

Kara contemplated her next words carefully. “I get where you're coming from, I really do. But she seemed like a really professional person. And I don’t even know if she will come by again. If she does, I think I'm gonna talk to her about it.” Alex approved of the answer.   
“Yeah, okay, I can live with that. Please, be carful non the less. I would like to meet her if you continue to see her.”   
“Please, you only want to meet her to fangirl about her. Besides, I'm not seeing her. We met once.” Alex snickered at that.   
“Well, if you could see her, you would change your mind in a second. She is one of the hottest women on earth.”   
“Alex, please. You’re so shallow. I already find her attractive.” 

Alex started laughing and didn’t stop for a couple of minutes. When she recovered a little she yelped.   
“You what?! How are you already attracted to her without even seeing her? Kara, only you can have a crush on a person you spent time with for an hour and didn’t even see.”   
“Alex! I don’t have a crush on her!” Kara hissed annoyed. “She smelled really good and her voice was really soothing. Like, I don’t know, maybe dark chocolate and a rainy day.” Alex chuckled again.   
“That’s one thing I'll never get used to. You describing voices with tangible things, and I'm actually able to imagine what it sounds like.” 

Alex started to pack her things. Her shift would start in half an hour and she still needed to get to work. When she was all set to leave she hugged Kara and wiped a little chocolate from her lip.   
“I need to head out now. I'm still going to tease you about your crush though. See you tomorrow.”   
“You are insufferable”, Kara huffed. “Please be safe and call me when you get off. I love you.”   
“I love you too, Kara”. They hugged goodbye again then Alex left with a smirk.


	3. Promised Smiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena comes to visit again and they get to know each other a little more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been so loooong.  
> I couldn't figure out how to write this story, so I wrote a different one and published two chapters of that -.-  
> Naturally, I found inspiration at 2am after having only 200 words for a month. so here it is
> 
> enjoy :)

Kara heard the sweet voice that reminded her of dark chocolate and rainy days again the Friday that followed Alex’s visit. She followed it to the same door as last time, this time though, fully aware where she was while listening to the story Lena was reading to the boys. 

Pooh had just gotten stuck in Rabbit’s entrance. Kara loved that part because she could easily relate to the honey-loving bear and his tendencies to overeat. Though she never managed to block somebody’s door, she had to unbutton several pairs of pants after a good meal. She still felt that the bear and her were kindred spirits. 

Kara listened on through the whole chapter, and, multiple rescue attempts later, the chapter ended with a liberated Pooh. Lena chose the end of her chapter as the end of her reading session as well and said her goodbyes to the boys and their father. Kara heard her approach, then Lena’s specific scent filled her senses again. 

“Hello again, Lena”, Kara smiled. She felt Lena stop a couple of steps in front of her.  
“Hey Kara. Need me to guide you to your room again?” It was a teasing question, which Kara enjoyed. 

“No thank you, this time I came voluntarily. I can guide you back if you want to.”  
“Guide me back? I know where your door is, Kara, why would I need guidance?” Kara chuckled and offered Lena her arm.  
“Because you’re going to close your eyes again. Let them rest for a couple of seconds, I’m sure they hadn’t time to relax all day.”  
“You’re right, they haven’t”, Lena agreed. “But I’m only doing this because I enjoyed your lesson the last time. Don’t get to cocky about it.” 

Kara only smirked and answered with a hum. She felt Lena take her arm and could pin-point the exact moment she closed her eyes. Her grip became a little tighter, her steps a little smaller, and she walked a little bit closer to Kara – all unconsciously of course. Kara confidently led her into her room and closed the door behind them. She asked for Lena’s coat again and hung it up before they both sat down at her table. Kara was the first to break the silence, still in her hosting mode. 

“Would you want something to drink? No fruit in the water today, though.”  
“Water without fruit is fine, thanks”, she smiled and settled in the chair she had already once occupied. 

Kara came back with their drinks and set down in the sunny spot. She heard Lena take a sip and waited until she had swallowed to ask a question. 

“How was your week? Did you make any great discoveries since we last spoke?” 

The question was asked overly enthusiastic which made Lena laugh. It was that full belly laugh again that made Kara’s ears tingle in the best way, addicting. She wanted to hear it as often as possible. 

“I’ll have you know that a week for research is barely anything. Besides, I wouldn’t be allowed to talk about any new discoveries, I’m afraid. I can offer you some old facts though if you hungry for knowledge.”  
“No, I don’t want it if it doesn’t come from your brain”, Kara answered, almost pouting. Which did the trick: Lena laughed loudly again and rewarded Kara’s ears with tingles. 

“I don’t think I have ever met someone who is picky about knowledge.”  
“Well, if you say it like that, I sound arrogant and petty. So, to show you that I’m not, you can tell me one fact.”  
“That’s really hard. Now I have to make it a good one”, Lena complained and took another sip to stall. Kara just waited, basking in the sunshine of the late summer sun and Lena’s subtle perfume. 

“Oh, here is a good one. Did you know the moon is the only rock where it’s documented when and how many people have touched it?” That made Kara snort with laughter.  
“Haha, I love your choice for the only fact you’re allowed to tell me. Truly, I am a wiser woman from now one because you shared this valuable knowledge with me, thank you.” 

They both laughed together, after that sharing a couple more funny/dumb facts; Kara’s ‘only one’ rule quickly forgotten. 

“Fact: You would die for your sibling in an instant but won’t let them borrow your phone charger for half an hour”, Kara added on, sure she had found the best one yet. 

Until she wasn’t so sure anymore when she heard Lena’s laughter stop.  
“Yeah, I would never let Lex borrow anything. I made that mistake once, never saw my teddy bear again after that.” 

Kara cursed her own stupidity. Why did she bring up siblings? She knew that Lena had some family issues, and everybody else knew, that Lex was what one would call a mad scientist. It was a miracle that he wasn’t in prison yet, because some of his experiments had failed spectacularly. Many lives were lost, but Alex had told her that he had managed to slip away from every accusation made against him by blaming it on tech failure. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad with that topic”, she apologized.  
“Oh, no need to feel sorry. I’m sure that would have been a brilliant fact for anyone else. It’s just that Lex and I don’t really do normal sibling stuff. Never really have, I guess.” 

“But you work together right?”, Kara asked, unable to reign in her curiosity.  
“Theoretically we do, but I try to avoid him as much as possible. He uhm, he isn’t really known for the ability to keep his emotions in check, so when he has a bad day, or something fails and the company loses money, everybody will know within seconds. I try to stay in the labs when he is on the top floors where managing happens. When he comes down to tinker occasionally, I go up and do my paperwork. It mostly works.”  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry”, Kara apologized again. She felt bad and, even more so because she couldn’t imagine having a bad relationship with Alex. 

“No need to apologize, Kara. I said it the last time I was here, talking to you comes easily. I probably shouldn’t talk about Lex, or my family in general, but it feels good to share it with somebody who doesn’t judge me for them. At least I think you don’t.”  
“Of course I don’t. I’m glad you feel comfortable sharing that part of yourself, and please don’t hold back talking about your family. If you need someone to rant to about them or something, I can be that person for you.” 

Lena laughed at that and sent Kara’s ears tingling again. The sensation made her smile.  
“Thanks for the offer, I keep that in mind when the next board meeting will go sideways. My punching bag at home would probably feel left out though.”  
“No way! You box?”, Kara asked totally taken by surprise by that sidenote. Lena huffed at that.  
“You can hardly call it that. I was good when I went to school, but I had to drop it when college classes became too time-consuming. Now I just use it to blow off some steam.”  
“I still think it’s pretty impressive”, Kara complimented. Lena blushed and, for the first time, was grateful for Kara’s blindness. 

“So anyways”, Lena continues with her intention to somewhat change the topic clearly audible in her voice.  
“Tell me about your sister? The view times you’ve mentioned her, your whole face lit up.” 

“Yeah, I mean, she’s my favorite person. I wouldn’t be here without her. She always picks me up when I’m down, it’s been that way since I was adopted by the Danvers’.”  
“You were adopted?”, Lena asked. It seemed oddly strange to have that in common with Kara. 

“Yes. My parents died in a fire when I was twelve. The Danvers’ were close friends with them, so they offered to take me in and made it official a year later. Alex took me under her wing in school. I was the weird kid, you know? The one with the dead parents. Never really had good friends until later, until Alex showed me a view things. But really, she was all I needed, Kenny, Winn and James were just a bonus. That are my friends by the way. I’m rambling again sorry.” 

“Please, can we stop with the apologies? I oddly feel like we are close enough to don’t take things the wrong way. And I must say I quiet enjoy you’re rambling. It’s efficient in conveying information about you”, Lena said in a teasing tone which made Kara imagine Lena winking at her. 

“Alright, no more apologies. And just for the record, you can stop me anytime you want, when I’m rambling, it might even help me avert another oxygen crisis.”  
“Noted, now continue please”, Lena chuckled, and Kara heard her taking another sip. 

“I don’t even know what I was saying before, but you wanted to know about Alex, right? So she is an assistant doctor at NC General and wants to go into Neuro. She loves bioengineering because her mother, Eliza, is a scientist in that field, and Alex was in the labs with her as a kid all the time. So naturally, she knows all about your work and is a huge fangirl, she thinks your hot, and she actually wants to meet you and according to her, we have to talk about our relationship.” Kara inhaled sharply after her little monologue. When the oxygen revived her brain functions and it registered what she had just said, she blushed furiously and anxiously waited for Lena to answer. 

Instead of it came boisterous laughter, and with it the ear-tingles. She felt her own lips tick up immediately with the sound and wasn’t that afraid of Lena’s response anymore. 

“Why did you stop talking now, we were just getting to the good stuff?”, Lena asked in half a yelp half teasingly.  
“The good stuff? I don’t—I… what do you mean ‘the good stuff’. I just put my foot in my mouth again”, Kara spluttered and let out a puff huffingly. 

A warm hand suddenly grasped at her wrist. It surprised her but wasn’t unwelcome. She felt Lena taking her one hand in both of hers and pat it reassuringly. 

“I don’t think you did. You may have complimented me in a very clumsy way through quoting your sister, but you didn’t put your foot in your mouth. Also, I think it’s cute that she likes me only because of my work. But after all what you just told me, her being a doctor and a scientist, maybe I should consider meeting her for different reasons but her opinion of my looks.” 

That teasing tone once more. Kara theorized that Lena used it to calm her down, to show her that none of her words did any true damage. It was an effective method. 

“If you start dating my sister right under my nose, I will start a riot. One time, there was this girl we both liked in senior year, and we, well let’s just say we didn’t speak for three month after Alex kissed her on 4th of July. Which was crazy, because we shared a room.” 

That sent Lena into another laughing fit. She let go of Kara’s hands and a sudden scented wave of her lovely shampoo told her, that Lena had just moved her hair out of the way. When she managed to speak again, it was still with amusement audible in her voice. 

“So what I gathered here is, one, your sister is also gay? And two, you like me?” 

Kara groaned and hid her face behind her hands. It was no use though because Lena pried them away and kept hold of them. 

“Okay yes, I like you. And I thought we had already established that and also that it’s totally weird and inappropriate because I know you for like two hours in total. But yes, I do, in fact, like you, but I am not gay, I’m bi. Just so you know. But my sister is only gay. You know, not ‘only’, but she exclusively dates women. Why won’t you ever stop me talking?”, Kara asked when she realized she had carried the conversation alone again. 

“Because I think it’s cute. I can return the favor if you want to hear me ramble my answer, if that would make you feel better?”, Lena wanted to know, and her voice was overflowing with irony and joy. Kara just frantically nodded, afraid to start talking again. 

“Okay, so here it goes. I don’t even know where to start but I think you said something about liking me already and thinking that it’s weird. Which I don’t think it is by the way, I think it’s endearing. I also feel a connection to you, that I can’t explain yet, even though we only know each other for like two whole hours, as you so eloquently put it. Oh, and next you said, that you’re bi, which I’m cool with and I would like to counter that statement by saying that I, like your sister am only gay. I think I answered everything, correct?” 

Lena had spoken fast and fluent, in a manner which made Kara wonder if she had to fight to get a word in when she was stuck in boardrooms with all the men talking over her. A sense of pride overcame her while she imagined Lena commanding a room full of sexists while being the smartest person there. 

“You’re amazing, do you know that?”, burst out of Kara suddenly. Lena squeezed her hands a little harder.  
“Where did that come from?”, she wondered. Kara squeezed their hands in return a smiled a little. 

“I don’t know, I just felt like I should tell you how I feel without masking, since it got you rambling just now. But seriously. Your work, the trial, the way you talk, like you know all the words in the dictionary, you reading to the sick kids. It paints a pretty amazing picture.” 

Kara heard Lena clearing her throat a couple times. She felt her let go of her hands and take a sip of water. After the quiet thud of the glass on the table, her voice was soft but full of emotion. 

“Thank you, Kara. That truly means a lot to me.” After a moment of silence, she spoke again. “You’re pretty amazing yourself. Your optimism in this situation shows true strength.” 

Kara was sure that the blush she was now sporting even colored her ears in a dark shade of red. 

“I just hope it works. I don’t want to be a burden to Alex for the rest of my life. And I really want to see her smile again. She had the best smile, probably still has, but it’s been a while since I saw that.” 

Lena let out a heavy breath.  
“I’ll do everything in my power to make that happen, Kara, I promise”, she whispered and intertwined their fingers.


	4. Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gets surprised at least one time in this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo people :D
> 
> I know, this took a little longer than usual, but I kinda sorta was blocked on this story? I wrote other ones though, so if you enjoy my style there is at least that to pass the time until the next update. 
> 
> Enjoy reading :)

A week went by without a visit from Lena, though this time spent apart was different. Kara had asked Lena for her number when she had visited for the second time, with the heads up that she didn’t really like texting, since it took her forever with her ‘blind-person-phone’, so Lena offered that she would just call after work with the warning that it could get ‘a little late sometimes’. 

Kara learned pretty quickly that it wasn’t a euphemism. Lena’s first call caught her off guard at 10pm on the Saturday that followed her visit. Kara answered on the second ring, expecting Alex. She was surprised to hear Lena’s rich chocolaty voice instead. 

“I’m so sorry I’m calling so late, I just got home, and I thought you deserve something better than a car-call.” 

“Lena, gosh, please don’t feel obligated to call me. It’s so late and, wait, hang on… are you just coming home from work? On a Saturday?!”, Kara asked, shocked. 

“I am, yes. But it’s not unusual. Well, the time is, but not that I work on Saturdays. I have a lot of work and responsibility as Head of Department.” 

“So what’s the reason for the time then?”, Kara asked incredulously.

“I was in my lab and lost track. It’s not as bad as you make it sound though, Kara. I can sleep in tomorrow and took my paper work home with me so I don’t even need to head into the office.” 

“Well I sure hope you don’t! It’s a Sunday Lena. You need to take better care of yourself.” 

“I get that, I really do. But sometimes my projects can’t wait for the weekend to end, you know, if I work with Carrier-Bacteria for example. They don’t grow on trees, but they certainly die like the rainforest does”, Lena joked.

“Oh, so you use dark humor to mask your workaholic tendencies. Good to know. Have you eaten at least?”

“I’ve picked something up on the way. I would ask you why you care so much, but instead I’m just going to thank you for your concern.” 

“Sorry, now that you’re saying that, I feel like I’ve been really rude. Who am I to question your work or whatever. I’m sorry, it’s not my place”, Kara apologized, scarred that she had just ruined her whole relationship with Lena.

“No, don’t be sorry. You’re right I work too much and eat too little and it’s nice to have you looking out for me. I don’t find it rude at all. Sometimes I need people who call me out on my bullshit, but I guess since I’ve stopped working with Jack, I lost that”, Lena reassured which released Kara’s anxiety. 

“Well then, I am now your official bullshit-caller, if you will. I can text you reminders to go home or eat during the day”, Kara said delighted, already planning the texts into her treatment schedule.  
“I thought you didn’t like texting?”, Lena questioned. Kara could hear her opening some take-out boxes over the phone. It made her hungry again.

“Yeah, I don’t like it in terms of having whole conversations via text. That just takes too long for me and I’d rather hear your voice anyways. But a quick reminder isn’t so bad if it keeps you happy.”  
“Don’t you think ‘my personal bullshit-caller’ contradicts with the goal of happiness?”, Lena asked chuckling. 

“Yeah well, I’ll do everything it takes to ensure your happiness in the long run. If that means that you react condescending sometimes or even not at all, I’ll happily live with that.”

“I shouldn’t encourage you putting your own happiness above mine but I somehow have the feeling that your mind is already made up on this.” Kara could hear the implied question. 

“See, you already found out that I’m really stubborn. Don’t forget it in the future. Now, please enjoy your dinner, but if you feel up to it, I’d like to hear about your day. Your voice is really soothing.” 

Kara listened to Lena explaining the paperwork she did in the morning and what she did in the labs in the afternoon until late evening. She payed close attention, even though she didn’t understand all of it, but it was important to Lena, so she wanted to be as attentive as possible. When Lena’s yawns outweighed the talking, she prodded her to go to bed with a promised call for the next day. 

As promised, reminders for food and leaving work at a decent time lit Lena’s phone up during the next day and the days that followed. They also talked on the phone every night except for one where Kara had had a treatment that was a little more invasive then normal. It left her drowsy from the meds, but Alex was by her side through the whole evening and sent a text to Lena in her name, excusing the missed call. Even in her drugged state, Kara didn’t escape how hyped up Alex was to be able to text Lena, even if it was just to excuse Lena. It made her chuckle and look forward to the moment the two would finally meet. Of course, she had told Alex pretty much everything about Lena including her feelings about her, after Alex had stopped teasing her about her crush. 

Kara was cleared to walk around the hospital again three days after the more invasive treatment. 

She was grateful for her regained freedom because it meant that she could do more exercise then in her room. Before she had gotten sick, she was on the on a soccer team and frequently trained for the next marathon. As her sight got worse, she wasn’t comfortable to go running anymore, so she resorted to the treadmill. Here in the hospital, she was only able to do so much, a little body-weight muscle exercises, but not much else. 

Until she discovered the room for stress ECG’s. Of course her discovery was more of an accident when she stumbled through the wrong door in her second week and was explained where she was before being lead back to her own room. She had asked Nia about it later and she explained it more detailed. Kara sensed an opportunity here for her to resume a somewhat normal routine. She wanted to know if she was allowed to use the treadmill when the ECG room wasn’t used. Nia checked back with her doctors to confirm that she could do physical exercise and helped her with the settings the first few times. Whenever the room was free, and Kara was cleared to exercise Nia let her know. Alex had brought her running shoes and some more work-out clothes and that was how Kara had found herself running frequently again. She always put on some music to match the rhythm of her feet and ran as long as Nia would let her. 

When the knock sounded, right during the bridge of American Pie by Don McLean, Kara slowed the mill down, ready for Nia to apologize for the interruption, ‘but the room had to be used.’  
She was so surprised to hear a dark chocolaty voices, that she almost lost her balance. 

“I didn’t know you run. How come you haven’t mentioned that yet?” 

“Lena! Hey, what are you doing here?”, Kara asked, completely baffled while coming to a total stop.

“I thought I surprise you. Clearly, I should have given you a heads-up.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it. I was in the cooldown phase anyways. I’m happy you’re here”, she smiled and reached for her towel. She dried the sweat of her forehead and collected her phone from the chair she had placed it on to silence the music. 

“Let’s go back to my room, so we can both sit. Plus, it doesn’t smell so bad.”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me twice. Do you need assistance back?”, Lena wanted to know, being sweetly considerate again. 

“Yes, thank you. If you help me and I don’t have to count my steps, we can still talk.”

Kara held out her hand. Lena took it and gently put it on her elbow. She began walking back with Kara next to her, talking only about what Lena had for lunch (a tuna salad), until they reached Kara’s room. 

“Uhm, would you mind if I take a quick shower? I ran for an hour and worked out beforehand, I feel a little too sweaty to be pleasant company right now”, Kara asked shyly. She didn’t want to waste Lena’s time, but she also didn’t want to talk to her while smelling like an unwashed heathen. 

“Yes, of course. I cleared my schedule for the rest of the day so I could be here. We have all the time today.”

“You shouldn’t have done that Lena. Your work is so important. And you’ll overwork yourself to compensate.” 

“I know it’ll be worth it. You make me happy.” Kara blushed furiously and excused herself to the bathroom with one more promise to be quick. 

Lena spent the time while Kara was showering on her phone, checking her emails. After she had answered two important ones, she indulged in some leisure time on Instagram, admiring the art and photography profiles she had subscribed to. She heard the shower turn off and clicked on Lex’s story. He was at a pretentiously up-scale restaurant with some girl of his, enjoying one obnoxiously large steak, while his date had a salad in front of her. Lena scoffed as she recognized the label of the 1000$ bottle champaign he had deliberately put into the frame. She exited his story and banned all thoughts of Lex from her mind. She wanted to be in a good mood for Kara, and he was decidedly ruining that. Tapping back on the email icon, she decided that she had put off the Head of Finances long enough and constructed a polite yet demanding request for more funding for one of her more important projects. 

At the exact same time she sent the email, Kara opened the door of the bathroom and stepped out. 

Lena felt her grip on the phone tighten lest she drop it, the rest of her just froze. Her gaze followed Kara to her dresser, Kara who’s hair was wrapped in a fluffy towel. Kara, who was completely naked apart from that. When Lena finally realized she had been staring, the damage was already done. She had seen everything from Kara’s perfect butt to her six-pack and broad shoulders and everything in between. She shut her eyes immediately, but it still didn’t feel enough. 

“Kara, why the hell are you naked?!”, she exclaimed and flung an arm above her eyes for good measure. Kara yelped in surprise and Lena could hear her shuffling around frantically. 

“Shit, sorry! Sometimes I forget that other people can see. Can you, I don’t know, close your eyes?”, she asked flustered and Lena was almost tempted to look at her again to see the cute blush coloring her cheeks, she was sure of it. 

“They already are closed. But you caught me by surprise, I have to admit. I, uhm, I saw everything.” Kara huffed out a couple of times and resumed to dressing herself. 

“Well, thanks for being honest. I’m sorry again, I’m not an exhibitionist, I swear, I just don’t think about being nude, because it doesn’t really matter to me anyways”, she somewhat clumsily explained. 

“I get it. It’s a foreign concept for me of course, because seeing someone naked for the first time is normally something intimate for me, but you don’t have that or don’t need to worry about it. And for what it’s worth, you have a beautiful body. I hope it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, that I think that.” 

“Not at all, thank you. But, you know, I don’t get to have this first view of someone naked, but I have the first touch of someone naked, which I find much more exhilarating. But maybe that’s just because I don’t have the alternative anymore. I’m dressed again now; you can open your eyes again if you want to.” 

“Oh thanks. Though I would agree with you, touching is way better than just watching. I’d still like to offer to level the playing field. But I don’t think I’m comfortable with you touching me like that yet, so I don’t know how that would work.” 

Boisterous laughter escaped Kara which luckily made her miss the single word that echoed through Lena’s brain on a loop. 

‘yet’

She definitely wanted to have that kind of future with Kara, but she wasn’t prepared to let all her guard down so quickly, to let Kara see all her cards, even though she meant to bluff her way through the game ‘til the end, until it got really serious, like she always did. 

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kara had reigned in her laughter enough to answer her, still heavenly oblivious to Lena’s little slip up. 

“Gosh you don’t have to do any of that. I would never ask you to. Though there is one thing I’d maybe like to try, but only if you’re completely comfortable with it.” This time, Lena was able to see the blush that colored Kara’s cheeks. 

“What is it?”, Lena inquired, suddenly very curious what Kara could ask her. 

“I, uhm, can I- can I feel your face? Like you know, to uhm, help me imagine what you look like?”, she mumbled and shrugged in a helpless way. 

“Of course, let’s do it.” 

“Wait really? Just like that?”, Kara asked surprised. 

“Yeah, I don’t mind it. And if it helps you, I’m happy to do it”, Lena explained confidently. She stood up and walked to Kara who was still standing near the hospital closet where she stored her clothes. She came to a stop right in front of her, already close enough to be touched. 

“Here I am, take your time.” 

Kara shuddered a little at the sudden proximity but reached out with both of her hands never the less. She places them on Lena’s arms and slid upwards until they were resting on her shoulders, still on Lena’s sweater. Kara remained there for a second, before she moved her hands onto her neck, her fingers splaying to feel as much as possible. Lena felt her breathing go shallow and goosebumps all over, but she didn’t dare to move. She raveled in Kara’s gentle touch; she hadn’t been touched with such care for a long time. 

Another gasped escaped Kara when she traced her thumbs in a mirroring motion along her jaw from her ears to her chin. Her hands slid back up to her ears, then she began to trace her hairline, up until both hands met again on her forehead. She smoothed over it with her thumbs, brushing along her eyebrows, carefully tracing the line of her eye sockets. Lena’s eyes fluttered shut as if Kara’s motions hypnotized her. It was so calming and intimate that she wanted it to last forever. Kara circled around her eyes, her thumbs brushing over her cheek bones, the rest of her fingers buried themselves in her hairline. The sensation made Lena smile, which Kara instantly noticed. 

“Why are you smiling? Oh gosh you have the cutest dimples when you smile”, she said with a delighted squeak and began tracing those. Lena didn’t dare to speak, afraid she would break the moment, so she resorted to whispering. 

“Your fingers in my hair feel really nice. That made me smile.” Kara’s hand stilled, then she began a little pattern in her hair which made Lena shiver. Kara adapted to Lena’s whisper, also not wanting to break the spell. 

“I love how your hair feels, it’s really soft. What color is it?” 

“Brown”, Lena mumbled back, then corrected herself. “A really dark shade though, it almost looks black most of the time.” Kara only hummed as an answer and began tracing down the line of her cheekbone until her thumbs reached the outer line of her upper lip. She cradled Lena’s head now completely in her left hand, while her right thumb brushed along the line’s of her lips, never quite on them, but really close. Lena realized she had been holding her breath for a while now. This contact did things to her, no one ever made her feel. She sucked in some air through her nose, again too afraid to move her mouth even a tad. Kara took a breath with her but let it out in another whisper. 

“Gosh, Lena you are so perfect.” It was almost like a sigh, like she couldn’t believe it was real, that Lena was real. 

Lena on the other hand had the exact same thought, but she couldn’t mask her surprise at the compliment. She gasped, which made her lips part. Kara’s thumb moved onto her lip involuntarily, resting now her bottom lip. 

It was too much. Too much not to react. Though Lena’s body did that all on her own. Her lips puckered and before she knew what was happening, she kissed the pad of Kara’s thumb.  
Kara didn’t remove it, didn’t try to stop her. Instead her left hand in her hair began pulling her even closer. Until their noses touched, until there was nothing in between their lips but the desire to finally be connected. 

The first press of lips was tentative and gentle, almost so feather light as if it was nothing at all. The second one was firmer, more confident on both sides. Lena’s hands found Kara’s waist and pulled her flush against herself, too addicted already to be apart any longer. Their lips rearranged themselves against each other in an exploratory game, both searching for a boundary that could be pushed a little further with each new connection. 

When Kara swiped her tongue over Lena’s lips, she wasn’t even embarrassed that a moan escaped her which granted Kara entrance. Their tongues met in a feverish encounter. Lena lost her reservations more and more as Kara began to suck on her tongue a little, so she bit down on Kara’s lower lip. Kara groaned in pleasure at the sensation while her hand began to scratch a Lena’s scalp in soothing motions. 

The door banging against the wall and an onslaught of words got them jumping apart in complete shock.   
“Hey Kara, I know I’m early, but I have good news from mom…”


	5. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena talk about their relationship, Alex shares her news, and Lena talks some science

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys :)
> 
> Just a little heads up, there will be some science talk in here which is more or less accurate up until the point of Lena and Jack's invention. My biology lessons are a little while back, but I loved the topic, so I'm fairly sure that most things are accurate. correct me if I'm wrong ;)
> 
> Enjoy^^

“That's certainly a fun new way to meet your idols. Making out with your little sister. I truly didn’t see that coming. Hi, I'm Alex”, she introduced herself after Kara still seemed frozen on the spot and didn’t make a move to do it. She held her hand out to Lena with a bright grin, basking in all the leverage she just gained over her sister. 

Lena shook herself out of the kiss-induced haze and took Alex's hand in a firm handshake. It almost felt like Kara's sister was sizing her up with the greeting, but it was nothing Lena couldn’t handle, with her being a successful young, queer woman in a patriarchal work environment. 

“Nice to meet you, I'm Lena.” It felt like a completely unnecessary thing to say but if she was taught one thing it were manners. 

Alex was practically vibrating with excitement. “I know! How cool is that?! I mean, the situation is totally awkward but I’m so excited to finally meet you. I know Kara has already mentioned to you that I’m a fan of your work, but I wanted to thank you in person for all that you do. You truly changed the face of medicine already and I admire you and your work greatly.” 

Alex’s grin was as bright as the one of a kid in a candy store. Lena in turn blushed and tilted her head down to hide a bright blush. She wasn’t used to receive such high praise and as far as she knew, Alex was knowledgeable in her field, so it meant even more. An annoyed groan from Kara made Lena look up again. She stepped a little closer to Lena again and reached a hand in her direction, giving Lena the opportunity to take it and taking comfort in the physical contact. 

“Alex, can you not? You are so embarrassing.” 

“Sorry, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting this. You could have prepared me for meeting your girlfriend at least.” 

“Wha- Alex! She’s not my… I- gosh. Can you give us a moment please? Like, go to the cafeteria or something please?”, Kara pleaded with a pained expression. 

“Oh, uhm, sure. I’ll bring you guys something up. Just shoot me a text when you’re ready for me?”, Alex consented and left with a small smile to Lena.

Kara let out a heavy breath as if she had been holding it the whole time. Lena realized that they were still holding hands which gave her some kind of comfort. 

“Gosh Lena, I’m so so sorry! Alex doesn’t have a filter sometimes and I’m so sorry if she made you uncomfortable in any way I swear, I’ll explain everything to her later. I know-” 

“Kara, please take a breath”, Lena interrupted her and squeezed her hand for good measure to ground her. “You’re okay. We’re okay, I promise”, Lena reassured her and pulled her a little to the table. “Let’s sit and unpack the whole situation before you have a stroke, shall we?” Kara nodded and even managed a small smile. 

Lena lead her to the table and placed her hand on the back of the chair that faced the windows, so she could sit. When they were seated, Kara reached out for her again, seemingly needing the contact, the physical confirmation that Lena was there and that they were okay. Lena was more than happy to provide it, taking Kara’s hand in hers and placing a quick kiss on her knuckles. It seemed to calm Kara down further. 

“So what are you so concerned about right now?”, Lena asked and traced the back of Kara’s hand with her thumb soothingly. 

“I’m sorry about everything. Gosh, I shouldn’t have kissed you before asking your permission and in general this seems so fast and I don’t know, Alex happened, and I’m sorry for her too, she really can’t stop talking sometimes.” 

Lena chuckled at the parallels. “That seems to run in the family, doesn’t it?” Kara let out another heavy breath, realizing she had again been rambling. 

Lena wanted to clear all her worries away, she didn’t like seeing Kara this distraught over a perfectly normal, though awkward scenario. “Darling, everything is completely fine, I promise. You need to stop apologizing. You’re right, consent is really important, but I think we were on the same page concerning the kiss. As for the timing of it, I don’t think it happened too fast. If we had been going on dates, I think I would have kissed you even sooner. And I don’t think we should care about what people say is appropriate. If it feels good and right to us, we should do it.” 

“Yeah, it felt that way. Actually, it felt amazing. I would like to do it again sometime if you’re willing”, Kara smiled and squeezed Lena’s hand. Kara’s sudden boldness made Lena laugh loudly. She pulled Kara closer to her by their joined hands and closed her other one around her neck, guiding Kara’s mouth to her own lips. 

They met with less urgency this time. It was soft and gentle, with every intention of learning how the other felt. Their lips moved in sync, pressing forward and welcoming, taking and giving. Kara broke away first breathing heavily. She leaned her forehead against Lena’s, raveling in their contact. 

“About what Alex said about her, meeting my girlfriend. Can that be real too? Because I think I’m already addicted to your lips and I don’t want to go on without being sure I can taste them again”, Kara whispered. 

Lena felt Kara raise her hand and carefully place it on her cheek, tracing her features. She knew Kara could feel her smile, her dimples. Lena just kissed her again, firmly and with intention. 

“I think you can get used to it. I’m happy to be your girlfriend”, she answered when they broke apart. 

Kara connected their lips once more and even dared to swipe her tongue into Lena’s mouth, swirling hers around. They explored each other for several more minutes until Lena reluctantly pulled away. She wiped her own lipstick off Kara’s lips with her thumb and smoothed out her collar which she had been gripping. 

“I think you should shoot Alex that text. It’ll probably be best if we save her from the nervous energy she left with since seeing me.” Kara slowly nodded, though she seemed a little out of it still. Lena realized the effect she had on the blond and brushed her thumb over her cheek in a calming motion. “Where is your phone, darling? I’ll get it for you.” 

“Uhm somewhere near my dresser, I think? I had it when we came back from the ECG room.” Lena spotted it on the shelve right next to the dresser and fetched it for her. Kara sent Alex the text to come up again and while they waited for her, it only seemed appropriate for them to trade some more kisses.

This time, Alex had the sense to knock and was beckoned inside, only after Kara and Lena parted once more and Lena made them both look presentable. Alex opened the door gingerly stepped inside with a cardboard tray of coffees and a bag of pastries in her hands. 

“Hey guys, I brought a peace offering”, she announced and sat down on the chair opposite to Lena. Kara reached for the coffees, bringing them up to her nose and smelling every single cup before picking one out for herself. She proceeded to put the tray down and pushed it in Lena’s direction. It was only when the cardboard nudged her hand that Lena realized she had been staring again. 

“How could you tell which you wanted?”, she asked and accepted her own cup with a little milk and sugar packet form Alex. 

“Mine has hazelnut sirup in it”, Kara explained and held her hand out to her sister who promptly put a danish into it. 

They functioned like a well-oiled machine; Lena could observe that much. Somehow, she couldn’t shake the thought that she could be a factor that would disturb this well-running system between the sisters. But for now, she was just glad she could experience it in the first place. 

Kara begun happily munching on her pastry while Lena poured some milk into her coffee, not sure if the tiny amount would even make any difference. 

When Kara had eaten half of the danish, she put it down, washed the remains of it down with a gulp of her drink and turned to Alex. “So what exactly did you shout about earlier when you interrupted us?” 

Alex had the decency to blush though she still chuckled with a smirk painted on her lips. “Sorry for that, by the way. And I want the story about that. But what I wanted to say is that I have news from mom. Do you remember Dorothea, her co-worker?” 

Kara nodded. “She’s the one that took a sabbatical to travel to Peru, right?” 

“Yes exactly. Well, she’s back now, so mom is able to take a vacation finally. She will visit for two weeks when you’re on your trial-break”. 

“Are you serious? That’s great. I can’t wait for you to meet Eliza”, she said in Lena’s direction and suddenly everything took an even weirder turn. 

They weren’t even girlfriends for an hour and Lena was already facing the prospect of meeting Kara’s adoptive mother in a month. She had never met anyone’s parents before, didn’t consider it a show of affection to introduce her ex-partners to her own family either. 

Kara seemed to sense her discomfort though, because she reached out for Lena’s hand again and squeezed it reassuringly. “Only if you want to, of course. I don’t want to pressure you to do something you’re uncomfortable with.” 

“Thank you, darling. I’ll consider it, I promise. It’s just that I’ve never met anyone’s parents before, so I don’t really know what to expect.” Kara brought their joined hands to her mouth and kissed Lena’s knuckles delicately. Alex beat her to an answer. 

“Oh, don’t worry about mom. I don’t know what Kara’s told you, but she is also a scientist, and after I ranted about you last Christmas, she read some of your work and is a fan too.” 

“Yes, Alex is right. But even if she didn’t know you work already, she would be nothing but kind towards you. She never objects to the partners we chose because she says she trusts our judgment. But still, it’s totally fine if you don’t want to meet Eliza yet. We have time.” Lena squeezed Kara’s hand as an answer. She didn’t know what to say, so she took another sip of her coffee. 

“Anyway”, Alex broke the silence again, “I ran into your doctor in the hallway and she said the bandages come off in three days, did they tell you that already?” 

Kara’s breath hitched a little from excitement. “No they didn’t, I have to have a word with Nia. But what does that mean Alex? I won’t be able to see, right?”, Kara asked irritated. 

“No, Kara, it’s a longer process, you know that. Maybe let Lena explain, I’m sure she is better at it than I am”, Alex said while reaching into the paper bag again and handing Kara a sticky bun. 

“Your sister’s right, darling. It’s not like laser-eye-surgery unfortunately. Are you familiar with the process of gene-modification or manipulation? Like with the ‘Flavr Savr Tomato’ or ‘Golden Rice’?”, Lena wanted to know, searching for an easy way to explain, and hoping for some pre-existing knowledge. 

“I think I heard about them in school, but I don’t really remember how that works anymore, it was a long time ago. But this is genetic engineering, right?” 

“Yeah, you’re right, it’s all the same thing really, but people like to use the fancy terms. Anyways it’s all based on manipulating the genome in one way or another. With the Flavr Savr Tomato, they knocked out the gene that made the tomato wilt early. With the Golden Rice, they took one gene out of corn to make rice more nutritious and incorporated into the DNA of ordinary rice. It is the same with you. We’re knocking out the gene with the damaged information on it, the one that makes you blind, and we’re replacing it with a healthy piece of a genome. Gene-therapy is what it’s called. Normally it only works partially, because we would have to insert one carrier-bacterium into every single cell of your body, so the whole DNA of your body could be cured. But what Jack and I found all those years ago at university was a way of the DNA reproducing on its own inside of your cells, so it is possible that your sight will come back over time, if our treatment works. That’s the trial.” 

Kara had a big grin on her face by the time that Lena finished talking. “Two things. So even if your invention of the treatment doesn’t work, it is possible for me to see better for a short period of time because of the traditional gene-therapy?”, Kara wanted to know. 

Lena squeezed her hand, not knowing how to convey the next bit. “It is possible, though, if it doesn’t work, the improvement of the therapy would probably be so small that you wouldn’t notice it and it would vanish as quickly as your sight vanished in the first place. I’m sorry.” 

“Oh okay. Well it’s fine because I have trust in you and your work.” 

“Okay, and what was the second thing? You said ‘two things’ before”, Lena asked and lifted her cup to her mouth again. 

“You’re really hot when you talk science.” 

Lena spluttered and almost spit out her coffee. She gulped it down, almost choking on the few drops. Alex let out a boisterous laugh and patted Kara on the shoulder as if in agreement. 

Lena only managed to get one word out. “How?!” 

Kara chuckled and finished her sticky bun, looking devastatingly proud of herself while doing so. “Your voice changed. It got a little deeper, you took more measured breaths as if you were holding a presentation, and it somehow sounded firmer than normal.” 

Alex face-palmed beside her, seemingly uncomfortable by her sister’s description, and Lena had a pretty good idea why. If she analyzed everything Kara just said, combined with the connotation that she found it hot, Lena was sure she could imagine how Kara preferred to be talked to in a more private setting. The thought left her blushing, which Alex took as an invitation to embarrass her sister further. 

“You know, the first time she described your voice to me, you were ‘rainy days and dark chocolate’. It’s such a weird thing she does, but somehow, she is always completely right with the associations. It’s crazy.” This made Lena laugh and although, she saw Kara now blushing too, her smile also got even wider.

A ringtone sounded. It was Alex’s phone, reminding her to get going. “Sorry guys, duty calls. It was nice meeting you Lena. And Kara, I’ll stop by tomorrow at 10 alright?” 

“No, I have a treatment then. You should sleep first and come when you wake up.” 

“Alright, we’ll do it your way. Until next time, Lena. Love you, Kara. Bye.”

When Alex was gone, Lena put all the empty coffee cups and the tray into the bag to throw away later. 

“Sorry about Alex. I didn’t know she was coming today, otherwise I would have prevented her from interrupting our time together.” 

“Darling, stop apologizing, it’s alright. Besides, my visit was a surprise too. If anything, I interrupted you time with Alex. But she seems great.” 

“Yeah, she really is. I think she likes you. Not counting her fangirling and stuff, you know.” 

“But that probably helps, too”, Lena joked. 

Kara chuckled and scooted a little closer with her chair so that she was facing Lena. Her features softened remarkably before she spoke again. “Can you be here in three days? When they take the bandages off? I know, I won’t be able to see you yet, but I’d like to have you by my side anyways. Just in case.” 

Lena leaned in and gave Kara time to pull back, which she didn’t. Suddenly conscious of the air flow between them, she remembered that this was the way Kara could judge directions and proximity. 

“I’ll be here darling. Just text me the time.” Kara closed the gap between them, pressing her lips gently to Lena’s, conveying all her gratitude and trust.


	6. The First Big Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara's bandages come off for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people I'm back :)
> 
> sorry, this took so long again, even though there was a considerebly long christmas break. I actually used it for uni work and presentations, so don't fault me for the long wait please ;)
> 
> Let me know what you think ^^

Kara was similarly anxious and excited when her doctor told her Monday morning that they would remove the bandages from her eyes this afternoon before continuing the treatment. Before, every time Kara’s eyes had recovered from one treatment, the next was already on the agenda. The doctor explained that they forged some sort of foundation for the cells in her eyes. And now that the foundation was forged, they would be able to see if it had worked for the first time. Kara would be without her bandages the first time in eight weeks. The doctor explained that she had a surgery to attend to after her rounds so they would probably come to get her at around 3pm. She explained that they would move to a special room where dimming the lights was a possibility, so that Kara could slowly adjust, in case she was able to see something again.

When her doctor left, Kara shot Alex and Lena a text with the time of the removal and proceeded to take a shower to pass the time. When she exited the bathroom a voice message from Lena waited for her. “Hello, darling. I moved a meeting around and completed all my paperwork for the day already, so I’ll be able to make it to the hospital hopefully by 2:45pm. If I’m later than that, maybe text me the room number when you know it. Or Alex can do it, because you’ll probably be occupied. That reminds me, can you send me your sister’s contact info? Anyways, look at me rambling, I think you’re a bad influence. I’ll be there this afternoon. Bye”

Ever since Alex had outed her with the thing she had for voices, Lena had taken to only sending voice messages to Kara. It was the best thing in the world, really, because now she didn’t need for her stupid blind-person-phone to read the message out loud and sounding like a speaking google translate version, but she also got to hear Lena’s voice quiet frequently. She was even able to listen to the messages multiple times, which she did. But no one needed to know that.

Hearing Lena’s voice always made her smile and simultaneously miss her girlfriend even more. Now, that they were officially a thing, Kara had to confess to herself that the crush she had on Lena was on the fast lane to become something bigger, very fast. It scared her a little that she felt so soon so deeply for Lena, but she also saw the beauty in it. Letting herself fall was never a luxury she allowed herself, not even before she got sick. But with Lena it was really easy. She was calm and collected where Kara was anxious. She could calm Kara down only by being beside her, anchoring her with a simple touch or a quietly whispered instruction to focus on her breathing. Kara came to realize that she had been searching for someone with such a soothing personality for a partner. God knows Alex got as agitated as Kara when something bad happened, maybe even more nervous and emotional. They were similar in that way.

She clicked on the voice message again, eager to fill her room with Lena’s soothing voice once more. To be honest, she hadn’t really listened to Lena’s words before, was just glad to hear her voice in general. Now she listened closer for information, things that mattered even more than the comfort that spread inside her while hearing that dreamy sound. After listening two times over, she sent Alex’s contact info, with a little heads up to her sister to prevent any confusion if Lena should text Alex.

Instantly, her phone dinged with messages from her sister. When Kara tapped on them it sounded like an audio book about a whiny five-year-old who wanted to connect to her idol read by the google translate voice. Kara ignored the messages and called her. If she had to listen to her sister whining about Lena, she could endure it at least with Alex’s real voice. Alex took the call on the first ring.

“Kara, please, hear me out. You can trust me with Lena’s number, I won’t annoy her I promise. I just want it in case I have to contact her for you or something. And maybe ask some questions about your trial research or something but that’s not the point here. This is solely for your safety.”

“And hello to you too, Alex”, Kara deadpanned, smiling all the while.

“Oh, come on, Kara. I’m being serious. Can you please just give me her number? I swear I will not abuse your trust.”

“I’m being serious too. You’re a heathen sometimes and you don’t even notice it. I will ask Lena if she’s okay with it, but you do realize that she will text you later if she’s late, right?”

“Oh… Well, maybe I haven’t thought about that.” Kara laughed and made no move to hide it from her sister.

“Yeah, I noticed. You can also just ask her yourself later, you know.”

She heard Alex splutter through the phone. “Hell no, Kara, that would be so weird.”

“I think it would be infinitely weirder if I ask her if it’d be okay now, for you, even though you two will see each other on this very same day, don’t you think?” Kara heard Alex grumble something unintelligible, then after a little pause she conceded,

“You’re probably right. But I don’t want to make a fool of myself again. I’m really sorry by the way about me bursting in without knocking the other day. I feel like I haven’t apologized properly. Sometimes my excitement just runs rampant with my body and my mouth.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks for the apology Alex, but it’s fine. I was panicking for a second, but Lena calmed me down pretty quickly. So no damage was done, just a nice ice breaker, really.”

“I’m really happy for you Kara.”

“Thanks, Alex. I’m really happy too. She makes me really happy.”

A silence settled between them, only broken by the background noise on Alex’s side.

“Are you on break right now?”

“Yeah, but I gotta go now, I have a surgery in half an hour and I’m not yet in the headspace for it.”

“Is it a difficult one?”

“Mh, nothing unusual but my patient is a six year old girl. It’s always different with kids.”

“You’ll do great, Alex, I know you will. You’re the best chance this little girl has.”

“I know. Thanks, Kara. I’ll see you later.”

“Good luck and see you later”, Kara ended the call and leaned back in her bed, deciding to tackle a little more of the book she was currently trying to read in braille.

She got so engrossed in her reading that she didn’t realize how much time had passed until Nia came to give her a heads up that the doctor would be there in 15 minutes to take her. She texted both Alex and Lena the same information and tried to think of something to do to prepare. She found nothing except exercise to calm her nerves, but she didn’t want to be all sweaty and smelly, when the doctor came to fetch her, so she refrained from doing her “stressed-out-push-ups” and just sat back down. She put on some music, uplifting songs from the 80s to at least somewhat soothe her nerves. When _Girls Just Want to Have Fun_ started, a knock on the door sounded out and Kara bid whoever it was inside.

“Hello Darling, I made it”, Lena greeted as she approached Kara on her bed.

Her gentle but somewhat breathless voice instantly put a smile on Kara’s face. She reached one hand out and felt Lena take and squeeze it just a second later, before pulling her close and planting a gentle kiss on her lips.

“I’m so glad you’re here. And even before Alex, this is going to be so fun”, Kara laughed, imagining her sister’s nervous ramble when she would ask Lena for her number. Before Lena could question her wording, she explained further. “We phoned earlier, and she wanted to get your number, but I didn’t want to bother you. I just sent hers to you, you know this already, but she wanted to have yours too, in case she had to text you or anything, but I’m sure she would annoy you, so I made her ask you herself.”

“Well in that case, I can’t wait. We can pay her back a little for interrupting our first kiss a little.” Her voice was teasing, and Kara liked the idea very much.

Before she could answer though, it knocked again. A second later Alex’s and Nia’s cheerful voices mixed close to her. “Hey Kara, I found your sister on the hallway. And I’m supposed to guide you to the room where Doctor Alvarez will meet you all. Are you ready to go?” Kara affirmed and after a quick hug from her sister, they made their way out of her room, with Lena guiding her this time.

They entered a wing of the hospital where Kara had never been before, but she tried to remember the left and right turns anyways, always hoping to be able to navigate around on her own. She heard a door being opened, a couple of greetings between Nia, Dr. Alvarez and Alex, before she and Lena entered.

“Dr. Luthor, I didn’t expect you to be present for today’s test. I’m surprised to say the least but delighted indeed. Please do come in. And hello to you too of course, Kara. To your left is a gurney where you should lay down.”

Kara quickly nodded. Although she was curious how Dr. Alvarez and Lena knew each other, she was way to excited about what would happen soon.

“Nice to see you again, Dr. Alvarez. Naturally, I am excited for today’s outcome from a scientific point of view, but I’m mainly here for support”, Lena explained. Kara heard the distinct ‘click-clacks’ of her heals come closer to herself and felt a soothing hand on her shoulder. She leaned into the touch, with all her nervous energy flowing out of her as if Lena had the ability to drain her of it. In a way she did.

Kara heard different sets of feet closing in on her from the other side of the gurney. When Dr. Alvarez spoke a moment later, she recognized it was her, also realizing that now was the moment of truth.

“Just a quick heads-up for you Kara. Your disease is one that effects the light receptors in the cells of your eyes. Obviously, without light you can neither see color nor shapes. If the treatment was successful so far, you will probably be able to see shapes, but not yet colors. It takes longer for those cells to be reconstructed. I want you to remember that nothing is lost if you don’t see anything at all yet. We still have a lot of approaches and experiments we can try out.”

Kara nodded again, a lump in her throat suddenly preventing her from speaking. Alex’s unique smell indicated her sister had stepped closer too, now grabbing Kara’s hand to anchor her. Her and Lena’s close proximity helped her a lot to calm down. “Nurse Nia, would you dim the lights to the lowest setting please?”, Dr. Alvarez asked, before explaining how things would go down one last time.

“I’ll remove the bandages now, Kara. If upon opening your eyes, you realize you can see, I’d advise you to not look directly to the ceiling and the lights. Seek a darker point so that your eyes can get used to the sensation again. If something hurts, voice that immediately. Are you ready?”

She knew that a verbal answer was needed this time, so she collected all her strength and hope.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

Kara felt Lena drop a kiss to her hair before, judging by the loss of her body-heat, she stepped back a little to give Dr. Alvarez space to work. Her hand still lay on Kara’s shoulder though, reassuring and gentle. A hand in her hair made her jolt a little, but she relaxed pretty quickly. Soon, she felt the pressure on her eyes lessen, then the fabric left her face entirely. Her eyes still closed, Kara felt her hand being squeezed by Alex even more, as if she tried to convey all her support through the clasp of their joined hands.

“Remember, look down a little. When you’re ready, you can open your eyes”, her doctor reminded in a soft tone. Kara tilted her head down, in the direction of where she knew Alex stood.

She squeezed their hands one last time. Moment of truth.

Her eyelids fluttered open and for a moment she was overwhelmed. Kara was one of the rare 10% of blind people that had no vision at all, meaning she constantly saw black. What she now saw was the complete opposite. Everything was white, like in a Blizzard. A gasp escaped her when, slowly, her eyes started to adjust to the light, and she was able to see…

A silhouette in black and grey tones was holding her hand. She turned her head a little more to the left and was able to make out another one, even able to recognize long hair and an arm that was connected to her own shoulder. To her right was another person, cast in white, which Kara realized must’ve been Dr. Alvarez’s doctor’s coat. She closed her eyes for a long moment, before opening again, as if to test if the figures would vanish into darkness again. But they didn’t. Kara was still surrounded by them and actually able to _see_ them.

A sob escaped her, and she clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle a second one. Alex was the first one to break the silence, anxiety lacing her voice.

“Kara, are you crying because you’re disappointed or because you can see something?”

Kara shook her head, then nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. Lena yet again knew what she needed and took her in her arms, brushing a soothing hand through her hair.

“It’s okay, darling. Take all the time you need.”

Kara let herself breath in Lena’s scent and felt herself calm instantly. When she was calm enough, she nodded, and Lena let her go. She blinked her eyes open once more, still not entirely convinced that she didn’t imagine the silhouettes.

“I can see you guys”, she laughed and heard Alex let out her breath with a whooshing sound. Dr. Alvarez was also audibly relieved, although still preoccupied with monitoring Kara closely.

“Can you please describe what you can see Kara?”

Kara, empowered by the confidence that sight brought, nodded enthusiastically. “I can see your silhouettes, as if you’re standing in front of a bright back-drop. It’s not clear, I can’t see details, but I would be able to walk around on my own I think.”

“That’s very good, Kara. If nothing hurts, are you willing to test if you can see clearer with a little more light?”

“Yes, absolutely”, Kara agreed and readied herself. Nia dialed up the brightness slowly, only stopping upon a signal from Dr. Alvarez.

“How is it now, Kara? Any difference?”

Kara looked around. She wasn’t sure how to tell. She reached out for Lena, instantly receiving her hand. “Can you come a little closer to my face?”

She saw the figure that was Lena nod, then lean forward a little. Light fell onto pale skin and Kara shivered when she realized she could blurrily make out where Lena’s neck ended, and her jaw began. She lifted a finger and traced the line, the boarder she was able to see. She cupped Lena’s face with her hand, being able to see the gently slope of her nose and her dark eyebrows heavenly contrasting with the white skin of her forehead.

“I can see your jaw, your nose, your eyebrows. Hell, I think, if you’d had dark lipstick on, I could even see you smile. I can’t believe how beautiful you already are, even in blurry.” She pulled her into a quick kiss, not caring that there were three other people in the room.

She turned to Alex next. She saw her short hair end right above her shoulders, bouncing from side to side.

“Alex, don’t cry, please. You know I don’t care about your medicore looks that much.”

Alex let out a tear-stained laugh, marveling at her sister’s ability to joke in such a serious situation. She reached forward and Kara reciprocated the hug actively, because she saw it coming for the first time in probably about two years. They held on for a long moment, Alex silently crying, before she cleared her throat and stood up straight again.

Her hands remained held by her two favorite people when Dr. Alvarez started speaking again.

“This is all very good, obviously. I’m so happy that the treatment is working. It also means that we do not need to change our approach a great deal, which is promising. We could try to expose you to more light, though I think for the moment, it would strain you too much. We have some special sunglasses for you, that you should wear until tomorrow. Unfortunately we’ll have to continue then, and your eyes will be bandaged again to ensure healing.”

Nia approached with the glasses and put them onto Kara carefully. Alex snorted with laughter.

“You look like someone playing VR games. The bandages definitely suit you better, no offense.” Everyone chuckled at Alex’s light jab, relieved of the stress that had come with the reveal. They said their goodbyes to Dr. Alvarez, Lena promising to be in touch, and made their way back to Kara’s room. Even though it would only be a half day of black and white contours and silhouettes, Kara was determined to spent every second of it looking at Lena and Alex, even if it meant that she had to endure the endless teasing of her sister.

They all set down at Kara’s table, questioning her about what and to which degree she could see. After a while, Lena excused herself, saying she would pick up some treats from the cafeteria. She left with a kiss to Kara’s cheek.

Alex instantly grabbed her arm in a vice grip, prompting Kara to turn to her fully. “How the hell am I supposed to ask Lena for her number, Kara? There will never be an elegant opportunity for it, and if I ask without one, I sound like the biggest creep ever.”

A ‘ _ding’_ prevented Kara from answering and she _saw_ Alex shuffling around her coat for her phone.

An indignant squeak escaped her, followed by a growl. The slap on her shoulder took Kara by surprise completely.

“Ouw! What was that for?”, Kara grumbled and rubbed the sore spot on her bicep.

“For telling my secret to your girlfriend of course. Lena just texted me saying ‘ _Hey Alex, this is Lena. Unfortunately, I don’t have any idea of your taste in baked goods, so tell me what you want. Also, your very welcome. Now you have my number, and don’t be afraid to geek out, I know science is really cool!_ 😉’”

Kara wasn’t able to stop laughing until Lena came back with some pastries and coffee for all of them.


	7. Reasons To Be Proud of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena visits Kara after another big operation to spend the afternoon snuggling and talking about their pasts, present and future...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PEOPLE
> 
> I'm so sorry!!!!!!!!! This took forever and I actually have a bunch of excuses but I won't bore you with the details :D  
> for the longest time, all there was for chapter 7 was a note to myself I wrote to myself after finishing chapter 6. it was 'get a timeline moron' which I did... after 3 weeks, I'M SORRY  
> The next chapter won't defintly come before 03.18. I'm sorry, but I have to prioritize my studies rn... sry lame, I know :(
> 
> Take this relatively average chapter as a consolation prize and enjoy :)

After being able to somewhat see again, Kara had a treatment three days later with the next dose of Lena’s invention. It was one of the larger operations, which bound her to her bed for a couple of days out of dizziness and nausea. Alex visited every day and read to her or they played games. Unfortunately, Lena wasn’t able to make it until Sunday, when the sisters were just playing memory.

Even though Alex had the advantage to see all the pieces, Kara was way better at memorizing, and with the textured cards, she had beat her sister in the previous three rounds and would have again in this round if Lena hadn’t shown up and distracted her. Like a vampire smells blood, Kara smelled Lena’s perfume as the door opened. She completely forgot about the carpet-like card in her hands, just waiting for Lena to come closer and greet her.

“Why are you smiling like an idiot, you haven’t even won yet Kara,” Alex grumbled, still not having noticed Lena.

“My girlfriend’s here,” Kara grinned and tried to invite Lena in further with a hand gesture.

“Yeah right,” Alex scoffed and shoved her a little, “maybe in your dreams.”

Lena chose that moment to clear her throat. “Actually, she is right. Hey you two.”

Alex flinched at the unexpected words, whirled around and accused, “Hey, didn’t you learn how to knock?! The last time I didn’t do that I walked into something I really didn’t want to see, I’m sure you remember that?”

“That’s true, but I was fairly sure I wouldn’t walk in on you and Kara kissing, because obvious reasons. And I saw Kara naked already anyways, so I chose the surprise over announcing myself.”

“YOU WHAT?!”, Alex shouted, wholly unprepared for that piece of information.

“Lena whyyyy?”, Kara whined simultaneously, embarrassed. She had hoped that Lena and she would take the story that lead up to their first kiss to the grave.

“I’m sorry darling, but you have to admit it’s a funny story.”

“No it’s not, it’s mortifying. But go on and tell it, Alex won’t stop pestering you about it now.”

“Sure as hell I won’t, so spill Lena,” Alex demanded, already sitting at attention. Lena made her way through the room to Kara’s bed and gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down on the edge of it and beginning the retelling of the event’s that lead up to their first kiss.

“So I surprised Kara with a visit on Friday two weeks ago. She was running in the MRI room, so when we got back to her room, she showered real quick while I answered some work emails. When she got out of the bathroom, she was completely naked and of course, I saw everything because I wasn’t expecting it at all. She said it was because she sometimes forgot that other people could see and therefore nudity is something special.”

Alex was doubled over laughing while Kara hid her face behind her hands, crimson ears peeking out from her hair. Lena pulled her hands away and kissed Kara sweetly while Alex was still occupied by her laughing fit. When she managed to regulate her breathing again, she wiped some stray tears away and asked,

“Wait, but that’s the day you got together right? How did Kara flashing you help with that?”

Kara was still too embarrassed to talk, so Lena continued.

“Kara told me that she couldn’t have that first moment when you see your partner naked for the first time, but for her, there is the moment you touch them for the first time. I joked that I wasn’t ready for that yet even though I would have liked to level the playing field. So she proposed to feel my face in order to imagine what I look like. It ended in us kissing and then you so gracefully interrupted.”

“Sorry again for that. But that’s actually a sweet story. There are worse first-kisses out there. Lord knows I had some.”

Kara giggled, clearly knowing what she was talking about, while Lena just smirked knowingly. It wasn’t hard to imagine Alex in an awkward first-kiss situation with all her rambles.

“Well, you’re not the only one. Every kiss I’ve ever shared with a man definitely falls on my list,” Lena added and high-fived Alex in triumph. They all shared a laugh until Alex’s phone beeped with a message.

“Sorry guys, I need to head into work. Will you be okay until tomorrow Kara?”

“Yeah of course. Thank you for staying so long. I’m gonna be fine with Lena, I promise.”

Alex pointed her finger accusingly at the both of them. “No funny business. I don’t want to hear any complaints from neighboring rooms. Also, Kara, don’t lie about your pain levels. The medication is wise to take at the moment, don’t be a hero.” Kara made a disgruntled noise and waved her off. When she heard the door open though, she still called an ‘I love you’ in the general direction. Alex said it back before leaving.

Kara immediately reached out for Lena and pulled her onto her bed. Lena chuckled and kicked her heals off before laying down beside Kara, one arm slung around her shoulder. They were silent for a long moment, breathing each other in and enjoying the closeness. When Lena tried to let go just to change her position a little, Kara whined and pressed even closer.

“Not yet please, I missed you so much”, Kara mumbled into her neck.

“I’m not letting go, I promise baby. I just wanted to get more comfortable and take off my jacket,” Lena assured. She felt Kara nod into her neck and loosen her grip enough so that she could shrug out of her tight work blazer and throw it to the end of the bed. 

“Are you in a lot of pain, darling? Can I do anything to help?”, Lena asked, already wrapping her arms around Kara to pull her closer.

Kara shook her head, her nose already in Lena’s hair again. “No it’s okay. I just want you close.”

“Are you sure? You don’t need to hide it from me if you’re hurting. I can get you something to take.”

“No honestly, I’m good. It started hurting a little earlier, but since you’re here, I hardly notice. Is that weird?” Kara asked, looking up with concern in her voice as if she was expecting Lena to laugh at her.

Lena kissed her forehead and brushed some hair out of her face. “No that's perfectly natural actually. You’re brain pours out dopamine which counter-acts the pain your feeling. But as soon as you’ll get used to me being here, it will start to hurt again, so tell me when something changes okay?”

“I promise. I don’t want to hide anything from you Lena. But I also don’t think that I’ll get used to lying so close to you anytime soon. You feel amazing.”

“Remember Alex’s warning, darling. No funny business,” Lena teased with a kiss to her cheek.

“I literally get dizzy and nauseous when I walk to the bathroom. I won’t start anything I can’t finish. Besides, I wouldn’t want our first time to be in this hospital. Is that okay?” She sounded insecure and shy, as if she hadn’t even thought of discussing that topic.

Lena was quick to assure her. “Of course that’s okay, darling. We don’t have to have sex ever, if that’s what you want. I just want you in any capacity I can have you.”

“God why are you so perfect”, Kara groaned and buried her face deeper in Lena’s neck. “And for the record, I do want to have sex. Just not here, it’s not really romantic or private or anything suited for sex really.”

“I agree completely. You deserve the world and as silly as that sounds, I want our first time to be special. I imagine it’s more significant for you since you kind of see through touch which makes sex almost like a heightened experience?”, Lena asked with curiosity lacing her voice.

“It’s not silly, I want our first time together to be perfect too. And you’re right, sex feels really intense. I uhm- I don’t know if you want to know about my past experiences? But there aren’t that many.”

“I’m happy with whatever you’re comfortable with sharing. I can count the number of people I have slept with on one hand, so I’m not that experienced either.”

“Well you know, naturally, I had my first time in high school at prom. Not at prom, you know, but afterwards. My boyfriend at the time rented a room and bought roses, it was actually really sweet. I didn’t date for a long while after we broke up, but I had a month of casual sex in college with a girl, that was really enlightening. My sight was already so terrible that contacts didn’t cut it anymore and she wasn’t into glasses during sex, so we ended it. It was a little awkward when we had the same seminar the next semester. I met my college boyfriend during that semester, we were together for two years, but he uhm, he didn’t handle it well when I told him that I would go blind completely, so he broke up with me.”

Lena kissed her temple and held her a little closer. “He didn’t deserve you if he didn’t respect and love all of you.”

“Yeah, I know that now,” Kara sighed, “but at the time it was really hard, because I sincerely thought we would be together forever. I was really depressed, with him dumping me and my eyes getting worse. It wasn’t a great time, but I worked through it all in therapy.”

“You went to therapy? For how long?”

“I’m still going actually. I went since I was 13. I go once a week, well now I call my therapist once a week, but it still really helps.”

“I thought you got the diagnosis when you were 19. Why were you going since 13?”, Lena asked.

Kara clenched her jaw before breaking out into a full-fledged ramble. “Oh uhm, that’s actually something I haven’t told you yet. It’s uhm not my favorite topic to talk about, and I know that’s not an excuse why I waited so long to tell you. I just didn’t know how to bring it up and I’m sorry for that, I wasn’t trying to hide it or anything.”

“Breathe darling,” Lena interrupted, “it’s fine. There are still many things we don’t know about each other. We don’t need to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable.” She placed another kiss against her cheek and squeezed her shoulder to reassure her a little more.

“No I want you to know. It’s just not easy for me to talk about it but it’s important that you know.” She paused and took a couple deep breaths before continuing. “When I was 13 my parents died in a house fire. I wasn’t home, I was at a friend’s house having a sleepover. I was put into the system until the Danvers adopted me. So Alex isn’t my biological sister and Eliza isn’t my biological mom either. They got me professional help and I went ‘til I moved for college, and then again when I got the diagnosis.”

Lena was silent for a long while before she gathered enough words to respond to her girlfriends revelations, still unsure if they were at all fitting. “Kara, I’m so sorry. I know pity or sympathy don’t really help, but I’m truly sorry. Nobody deserves this, least of all you. I wish I could give you the world.”

Kara felt for Lena’s cheek, caressed it before sliding own to her chin and turning her head so that she could kiss her, long and deep. They stayed with their foreheads pressed together after, breathing each other in and taking comfort in their closeness.

“You already make everything better by being here, Lena. You and I, we can’t change the past, it doesn’t do good to dwell on it either. We can learn from it though, so I know that I won’t take a single moment with you for granted because life is too short.” When Lena didn’t answer, Kara simply continued. “Therapy taught me to recognize good and happy moments, and to cherish them. Every single moment I spent with you is one of them.”

“I don’t know what to say Kara. I feel the same way about you, I’m so lucky that I got to meet you.”

“You can thank your voice for that, remember?”, Kara chuckled and placed a kiss on Lena’s throat.

“Well, then, I suppose I have to give credit to the many cigarettes I smoked during my rebellious phase at boarding school. But don’t worry, I quit when my parents exploded over it for the third time just in case you don’t like smokers.”

Kara’s jaw dropped with the news. Lena couldn’t stand the closeness and Kara’s open lips at the same time, so she leaned over and licked into her mouth which earned a surprised moan from her girlfriend. They made out until both were panting and on the verge of crossing over into dangerous taboo territory. Lena just barley restrained herself from sliding her hand beneath Kara’s shirt.

“Can I get you a glass of water or something, darling?”, she suggested breathlessly, while scooting away from Kara a little to keep her hands to herself.

Kara could only nod, equally panting and flustered, with red cheeks and her hair sticking out in every direction. She received the glass of water from Lena with a short ‘thanks’ before draining it in three big gulps.

“Wow, someone’s thirsty. Do you want another one?”, Lena asked, putting down the pitcher after filling her own glass.

A low chuckle escaped her that prompted an intrigued hum from Lena.

“Thirsty is right,” Kara deadpanned and earned a full-belly-laugh from Lena which made her ears tingle.

The brunette sat back down on the bad and threw one arm around Kara. They leaned back together with Lena’s head on her shoulder.

“Do you want to tell me about your parents?”

“Okay sure,” Kara smiled and stopped to think for a second. “My mom’s name was Alura. She was a judge and just knew how to command a room. She was always fair and kind and made sure I learned these values too. She was often working when I was little, so I spent more time with my dad. He was an Astrophysicist and taught me all about the stars. At night, we stayed up for hours to find and map out the constellations. We always searched for funny faces or pretty patterns. I think that’s why I started to study art and art history until I couldn’t see anymore. I really enjoyed finding the patterns in mundane things and bringing them to life.”

Kara fell silent and the only thing audible were their breaths and some clattering in a neighboring room. Lena pressed a kiss to her shoulder, then another one to her cheek.

“So, you want to be an artist when you’ll be able to see again or do you want to teach art?” Lena asked in a rare attempt at optimism on her part.

“I never thought about that. I think I like the idea of teaching, although I’d also like the image of earning money with just painting, but that almost seems unachievable. I can’t think about that yet anyways. If the trial is really going to be successful, I would have to go back to college and finish the degree first. And if not, I have to look for a completely different job.”

“Have you thought about what you would like to do before the trial?”

“Yeah, a little. There isn’t really much that you can do without sight, but I would like to become a massage therapist. That way, I would still be able to help people, and I don’t need sight to be able to massage someone’s knots out.”

Lena laughed and shook both their bodies with it. She was proud of Kara for choosing such a compassionate profession, proud of Kara for going to therapy and working through her problems instead of avoiding them, proud of Kara for defying all circumstances and still being her happy self. She just had no idea to voice all that out without sounding like belittling her experience. So she stuck to the gist of it.

“I’m really proud of you, darling. I’m glad I smoked those cigarettes, even though I’m probably going to die ten years earlier because of them. They still lead me to you.”

Kara chuckled and snuggled closer to her girlfriend. “I’m glad you smoked them too. And I’m sure you won’t die earlier because your brilliant brain can probably come up with something to get all that poisonous junk out of your lungs.”

“Huh, I hadn’t considered anything in that direction. But I guess I just have to live with the fact that you will be my muse from now on who inspires me in every aspect of my life.”

Kara blushed and shook her head. “Flatterer,” she whispered, before leaning in and placing another kiss on Lena’s lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave me some nice comments to soothe my nerves before I have a uni-inflicted break down, thank you :D


End file.
